I am pretty sure HBO has already announced that book 3 would be two seasons. I think they also said there would be a few extra minutes per episode as well. I'm not sure if they said at what point in the book they would end season 3.

I don't think both books 4 and 5 would be split into two seasons. I would think you could get away with either two or three seasons between those two books and I would think those seasons would be combinations of those two books. Since they are concurrent stories, I don't think viewers would be happy not seeing certain characters for a whole season since they would only be in one book and not the other.

True. I can't see the HBO showrunners having Tyrion disappear for that long of a stretch.

What are the chances of Prequel books to ASOIAF? I think lots of people would love to read about Robert and Ned and the Targaryens

+1

As long as he finishes this series first... but it would be interesting to learn about said characters and of Jon Snow's mother (I wonder if they'll ever talk of her again since the people that are connected to her are pretty much dead... and one is unknown).

I get this feeling that it'll be Jamie that kills Cersei (perhaps zombified ice queen?)

A book series about Robert's Rebellion would be cool. But clearly there are things from that timeframe that have the potential to be spoilers for the current book series. You know, like the old R + L = JS theory.

Well, I think we may have seen the beginning of a transition for one of the characters in that triangle to begin pursuing his true destiny in book 5. That, and at some point we'll finally come across the lone survivor from the Tower of Joy, who can shed some light on the truth of what happened at the end of Robert's Rebellion.

And DAMN, does it take a lot of effort to make the discussion of this theory come across as both cryptic and spoiler free!

Absolutely. But in that whole R+L=JS equation, you have to look at the close of A Dance with Dragons. How will George R.R. Martin make the setup for that revelation significant in light of the ending of Book 5? I have my own theory about that. And the possibility for that theory to come true was shown in a couple of forms during last night's episode of Game of Thrones. Whether my own theory pans out in Book 6 is something we're just going to have to wait for.

But as a fan of the books, I thought that the whole R+L=JS was pretty commonly known. Am I mistaken on that front?

Most people when the theory is proposed go ahhhh...I think it is going to happen. There is a reason there are three dragons...there is a reason there will be potentially three dragon riders. I was a little preturbed with introducing the third heir in the Dance but after you start thinking about the big picture it makes sense.

Also, one of the rules of fantasy is that you build a wall it needs to come down...I would guess that will happen in the next book as well